First S10Extremist Bash

May 2000

Eldorado North Carolina USA

Just as the engines died and the dust settled, a dozen of General Motors smaller warriors pulled into the pay station located at the north end of the Dickey Bell trail head. It was the First Annual S-10 4x4 Jamboree hosted by S-10 4x4.com held on May 19-21, 2000.

Some attendees came from as far away as Colorado, North Dakota, Illinois, New York, and Ohio to do battle with trails located in Uwharrie National Forest near Troy, North Carolina.
 

The event, first known of its kind, was only opened to all GM S-Series style truck, Blazer, and Jimmy four wheel drives.
Not known for their nimbleness off of the paved surface and with most having stock meats, all of the rigs conquered the Dickey Bell, Falls Dam, and Wolf Den trails with minimum troubles. Troubles on the trails consisted of a blown tire, a temperamental electronically operated four wheel drive, and the two V-8 powered rigs generating more heat than their
radiators could remove in the 90+ degree heat.

The event started off on Friday with meetings off the Biscoe exit on Highway 220 which started at noon and scheduled every three hours. The majority of the group camped at the Arrowhead Campground, where by the number of rigs raised quite a few eyebrows of the regulars. Pretty much Friday was the night most of the group spent meeting each other,
explaining some of the modifications done to their respective rigs, and doing up last minute preparations.
 

At approximately 9:30 Saturday morning, with the group rested and ready to do battle, and only stopping to pay the required five dollar trail usage fee, they started down the Dickey Bell trail. This trail is armed with various switch backs, little hills, and a 45 degree hill. Our maps showed the trail as easy but terrain changes faster then maps and Dickey Bell was now properly rated as difficult. About 15-20 minutes into the trail ride, an unfriendly tree root claimed the first victim of the day. John Maher, in his '91 S-15 Jimmy, lost the battle and ended up with the only flat of the event. At the end of the trail, there is a steep (45 degrees) hill going down twisting through unfriendly rocks and too friendly trees. With the
help of others as guides and spotters, each person skillfully went their own route through the obstacle. The tail gunner,
Mark Hall and his extremely modified '89 S-10 truck showed the rest what a rear wheel wheelie looked like when he attacked the downward hill. Once the group made it completely through Dickey Bell, it was onto Falls Dam.

Falls Dam, when dry, is less of a challenge then Dickey Bell, but still challenges enough to maintain interest of the crowd. It had out cropping of rock, whoops, and due to the dry, hot weather before and during the event, a dry "mud" pit. The mud pit was located at somewhat the middle of the trail, which the group stopped and let some of the more
experienced drivers play on while the rest were taking pictures and catching the action on tape.

Once done the group head up for a quick pass through the southern part of Wolf's Den and then back to the campground for the Cook out and Awards ceremony.

Once all the food had been eaten and awards presented, some of the participants set out for Wolf's Den. They proceed to not only to go through the trail one way but turn around and go back on through the opposite way.

On Sunday, the group started off the afternoon on the north end of Wolf's Den then proceeded onto Dutch John. This trail was rated difficult for good reason. It began as the rest of the trails, slowly drawing the more experienced drivers in with some lighter obstacles and building upwards from there . The first hill consisted of a 30 degree incline with big rock
outcroppings. Once past the hill, there is a creek that has two ways of crossing, proceed with some more hill climbs and down the mountain. On the way down they encountered some tight turns and a creek that they had to cross twice before heading back up the opposite mountain to encounter the biggest obstacle of the trail. It was a hill that had a 45+
degree incline with very unfriendly rocks with a slick clay/dust covering. To make the hill more difficult there was a 90
degree right hand turn at about the half way point. Once at the top the group was treated to one of North Carolina's beautiful views of the mountains.

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